It's United Way fundraiser week at my job, which meant that Tuesday brought the annual Crocktoberfest. Headed over with a bunch of coworkers and got myself a delicious mug of vegetarian chili that was just fabulous. Yum!

Wednesday brought another great lunch, this one in the form of Anna and I taking the bus to downtown Minneapolis for a Kofax/Genus lunch presentation. I was delighted to have the option of black bean cake, broccolini, and wild rice with a delicious clump of sauteed onions and mushrooms on the side...then they followed it up with a massive piece of red velvet cake I could hardly get through half of! Quite a treat.

Non-culinary delights included getting to finish writing 'Happy Birthday, Defender!' on Tuesday evening. That's my sixth short story for 2014. My failure to bring reading material along for the bus ride to Minneapolis meant I made great mental progress on the next story I hope to start writing this weekend.

Thursday had its own blessing--the morning clouds cleared away in time for a sunny afternoon and a view of the partial solar eclipse. Not as fun as lunar, because I can't sit and watch the sun, but it was neat to get glimpses and project the image through a pinhole.